Years ago, visitors to South Carolina were greeted with a sign reading, “See the Best State on the Best Roads.” These days, the second part of that statement no longer applies.
In the 2017 State of the SCDOT, Secretary Christy Hall drew attention to the dilapidated state of South Carolina’s pavements. A whopping 54% were rated “poor,” 29% were “fair,” leaving just 17% in “good” condition. Further, the Secretary stated South Carolina’s pavement conditions had reached a point of crisis with over 50 percent in poor condition (see below).
But all that is about to change.
When South Carolina lawmakers passed Act 40, the SC Infrastructure and Economic Development Act, they set South Carolina on course to alleviate its infrastructure crisis.
The legislation includes South Carolina’s first motor fuel user fee increase since 1987. As such, the promise of additional infrastructure investment has allowed SCDOT to begin addressing the state’s crumbling infrastructure.
While SCDOT’s first priority remains decreasing SC’s fatality rate through rural road safety, additional road resurfacing comes in at a close second.
The department plans to apply an additional $300 million to road resurfacing, increasing the program by 44%. As a result, over the next ten years, SCDOT will triple the number of pavement projects in the works.
These significant improvements will target all the systems, but the Primary System which carries 46% of all traffic, will receive greater emphasis.
The below graph details the targeted pavement conditions after the implementation of the new revenue in year ten.
Thank you, SC Lawmakers, for passing a real plan to #FixSCRoads
We commend the South Carolina General Assembly for taking action and passing legislation to fix our crumbling infrastructure. As SCDOT’s repair plans are implemented, South Carolina roads will once again become an object of pride.
Join us in thanking the members of the General Assembly who acted in the best interest of our state by voting for the comprehensive roads bill.